Hello,
So again, I visited the youtube video ‘RSS in plain English’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU and discovered the following.
So in today’s world there are many sites that people have accounts with. When users want to check the status of their accounts then they need to check several different sites by logging in and searching for new information. I would describe this process as ‘searching’ for news, where the user is doing the work to search for updates.
Searching for news takes too much time and become quite cumbersome. The popular remedy to this situation is to sign up for a ‘reader’ which organizes all one’s personal accounts and delivers the updates from these sites to one location. The user can then quit searching for news and simply log into their reader account and check all of their sites simultaneously. I would describe this process as ‘receiving’ changes or updates, where the reader site is transmitting news and the user is just reading the messages.
To create a single page full of one’s updates, a user must sign up for a ‘reader’ page. There are many sites that offer accounts for this service, but I just set up a reader account at google. Setting up the account is the first step, and then as users surf through their favorite sites, they can add these sites to their own reader by subscribing to the site. Subscribing to a site means that you are interested in receiving updates from those sites. Any updates from a site are then sent to your ‘home base’ or reader account. To begin directing site updates to your reader account you must click the ‘subscribe’ button on a given website. The subscribe button either states ‘subscribe’ or has the ‘+’ sign next to something stating ‘to subscribe to this website, click here’.
I comprehend the need for a reader account because, yes, checking millions of sites for updates could get annoying. I actually have subscribed to a couple of my favorite bands websites. Instead of setting up a reader account, I just linked my email account to receive new updates. This type of service is great when you want to receive offers for rare band material, such as limited edition vinyl records, cd’s, etc. Instead of having to continually search band websites for tour dates or brand-new news, automatic emails are sent out to those fans who are subscribers to the site.
I have also had a bit of experience using this sort of email update system from the social website facebook. I don’t think the service works as well for facebook because it is a bit redundant. Since the facebook main page is a page of most recent updates anyways, why do users then need emails updating the updates. There have been many times when I’ve commented on a friends’ facebook picture or status, only to be emailed later about other people who have also commented on that same friends’ facebook page. I realize that facebook is a social website but I find email notifications regarding more wall posts to be somewhat annoying.
As for educational purposes, using an RSS reader would be great for website updates of an educational variety. If one was researching a certain topic, one could subscribe to websites which keep track of informational break-throughs in a particular subject matter. Then if a website were to update their ‘news’ pages, these updates would be sent to anyone subscribed to the site. From a student perspective, if teachers authored websites containing course material then any updates that a teacher made would directly be distributed to all students that are subscribed.
Overall the RSS approach saves time in searching and brings any new information to the user. I guess the one drawback would be for users to then set aside time to follow all updates on their personal reader site. Even though one doesn’t have to go searching for new information, one now has to keep up with updates or else it would kind of defeat the purpose of email notifications. I never really knew this kind of service existed with most sites before. It reminds me of a notification ‘housekeeping’ service.
Thanks, take care.
-Regen
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